The Vines Community Association Newsletter

The Vintage Golf and Country Club

1980-1999 Our community began with Lost Creek and Vintage Trace homes, followed by Fairway Bend, Palmbridge Village (now northeast Vintage Trace), Silver Oak, Grand Palm and Grand Palm II (now Southwind).

1985 The Vintage Community Association was filed as a corporation. The golf course was opened as The Vintage Golf and Country Club.

The Vines Golf and Country Club

1989 In order not to be sued by a community/club in California with the "vintage" name, we changed our community name to The Vines Community Association. The golf club also changed their name at that time.

In February, 1999 the developer turned the community over to the residents.

2004 The new monument reflected the Community and new club name.

If you have additional landmark pictures or historical information, please email me at [email protected]

The Vines Community Association

Issue #143, March 2, 2024

Board News

Board Meeting

The next Board meeting will be held on Monday,

April 29, 2024 at 9am at Estero Country Club and via Zoom. The Zoom link will be emailed to you the Friday before by Pegasus.

The Vines Community Association Annual Meeting was held on March 25. There was significant confusion re: quorum and proxies. After verifying a quorum had been reached, the vote to waive the audit passed 91 to 59.

Today, April 1, the VCA Board had an organizational meeting on zoom. They welcomed Art Bowen, the new Board representative from Lost Creek. The Board also selected

2024-25 officers:

President - Rick Knox

Vice President - Chip Strapp

Treasurer - John Towey

Secretary - Mike Johnson

Committee Chairs remain the same:

ARC - Rick Knox to be transitioned to

Art Bowen

Community Relations - Mike Johnson

Finance - John Towey

Lakes and Lighting - Bobbie Dumont

Landscaping - Linda Chain

Security - Chip Strapp

SPEEDING ON OUR COMMUNITY ROADS - The VCA Board is looking at options to make our roads safer for all users. Speed bumps, cameras and more signs are being considered. All are an inconveniece and costly. PLEASE SLOW DOWN.

Kudos to the VCA and Estero Country Club for their efforts on working together for the benefit of the community as a whole.

A Friendly Reminder

Whether you live on Vintage Trace or in one of The Vines communities, there are rules and regulations which must be followed to provide the quality of community lifestyle and safety which are expected. Consequences for not following the VCA Rules and Regulations can include fines, suspension of bar codes and/or internet service.

VCA Rules and Regulations

Financial Statements

The financials for January have been recieved. Pegasus is getting back on track after some employee changes. Association Reserves has given their final report on our community assets. Please hit on the blue portion of the link below to see the document.

The VCA portal on the Pegasus site allows residents to view the above mentioned information as well as much more. Login with your email address and password. If you do not have a password, Pegasus can provide you with one.

Current Reserve Issue

January Financials

Architectural Review Committee

Modifications requiring an ARC Form (available on VCA website) and prior approval include but are not limited to: landscaping, exterior painting, lanai screening, lighting, roof replacement, storm shutters, tree removal and window replacement.

ARC forms can be found on The Vines Community Association website (click on About The VCA and Documents). Forms should be sent to Vangie Sidoti at Pegasus Management. [email protected].

The Vines Community Association Website

Lake Bank Restoration

The next phase (Silver Oaks) will start in 2025. Vintage Trace Circle and parts of the golf course will be done in 2026. The remainder of the golf course will begin in 2027 with a completion date in 2028.

Perimeter Barrier Replacement

Many months of time and effort have been expended on determining the best option for the replacement of the barrier wall and hedges damaged by Ian. Linda Chain has been the go-to person communicating with all vendors re: wall demolition, wall replacement options, landscaping, irrigation, Estero Village requirements, utility issues, etc.

A workshop was held on March 23 to prepare information for the Annual Meeting on March 25. Permacast and Heatherwood were the companies vying for the contract. The Board selected Permacast. Please click on the blue portion of the links below. Additional information re: financing will be forthcoming.

Wall Location

Wall Cost Comparison

Irrigation Project

The irrigation project on the San Carlos side is in the works. The placement of piping is expected to be completed by April 8 with the replacement of sod following. Additional irrigation repairs are on-going.

Lake Water Quality

The noise issue arising from the aerator motors in Silver Oaks is continuing with several other locations throughout the community being identified with the same issue. Cross Creek Environmental is in the process of finding a resolution by moving the motors, downsizing the motors and enclosing and landscaping them differently to alleviate the noise. This is an on-going project which will be resolved as soon as possible.

Security Issues

If you see a security issue that needs police attention, call 911 or the Lee County Sheriff at 239-477-1200 or 1000. DO NOT CALL THE FRONT GATE! Gate security personnel cannot report to the police something they did not see themselves.

Rails to Trails

Please continue to follow Facebook and Instagram pages and click the "like button" on RTT posts.

Pegasus will continue to issue updated information from the Rails to Trails Committee.

Your on-going support of this issue is important, please stay informed and involved.

Correspondence to VCA residents re: Rails to Trails

Follow our Facebook and Instagram pages and click the “like” button on our posts.

The Committee is very active attending all of the Village meetings and making contacts in the San Carlos/Estero communities. They are working with all relavent parties to ensure that The Vines is involved in every aspect of the project. This is an important issue to all Vines residents. It will be a long term and time consuming effort, if you have an interest/expertise, please contact Bruce Ackerman or Mike Johnson.

Safe Trails Facebook Page

Safe Trails on Instagram

Community Relations

Some clean-up activity has been done on Nuthatch Lane. Unfortunately, maintenance is not done on a routine schedule. Negotiations will continue to try and get the bordering businesses to commit to regular maintenance.

Our hurricane preparedness plan has been reviewed and updated. The plan will be available on The Vines Commuity Association or Pegasus websites.

Beautiful sunsets from Claire Comstock, Caroline Seay-Fardell and Pam Wortman. How about some of you early birds sending me sunrises?

Help make your newsletter more interesting, please send photos to [email protected]

Estero News

Visit our Website

Village of Estero Meetings - for meeting agendas please go to Village of Estero Website (link above)

Council Meetings - open to public. Meetings start at 9:30 a.m.

Wednesday, April 3 and 17

Planning, Zoning and Design Board meetings - open to public. Meetings start at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 9

Special Village Council Meetings, visit website for information

Visit our Website

On-line sign up for Property Fraud Alert.
April 3 @ FGCU - Forum on Hurricane Insurance Bill
April 16 @ Estero High School - Traffic Congestion in Estero
Vines Resident, Barry Freedman appointed Chief Research Officer for Engage Estero
Lee Health Urgent Care Finder - This site shows locations, current wait times and allows you to tell them you are on your way.